As we kick off 2025, I want to recap a few open items from our 2024 pantry garden.

If you recall, we still had radishes and spinach planted, both covered and uncovered, as well as parsley, cilantro and oregano. We anticipated we would be able to continue to harvest these items into December, provided we had some good weather. Unfortunately, after the rain we had in November, we had extremely cold weather for about a week.

We had a very warm day Dec. 8, and I was able to spend a couple of hours in the garden. I took down our WCHI pantry garden sign, emptied the water barrels and drained the water tank. The hose had some frozen spots, so I laid it out in the sun to thaw and drain out.

Unfortunately, when I checked the spinach and radishes, I found the spinach had white spots and the radishes were limp and frozen. In addition, the oregano, cilantro and parsley were frozen. As a result of losing the last of our crops, I used the remaining straw in the shed and mulched the rest of the open beds.

Full disclosure, I was lazy and did not weed the beds before putting down the straw. I am writing this article Dec. 24, and, due to the recent snowfall, I will have to wait for a warm day to make my way down to the garden to put away our hose and to store the barrels in the shed.

I found it interesting our groundhog friend who resided under our shed has been noticeably absent from the garden. The piece of fence near the gate hinge was found to be pushed aside, thus allowing him to escape. This fence repair has taken top billing on our late winter/early spring work list.

Hannah, from The Seed Farm, received our soil report from Penn State Extension.

“The results look really good,” she said, adding we will want to amend our soil with a balanced fertilizer to bring up the levels of phosphorus and potassium. Otherwise, the soil is great.

Although we were unable to provide fresh vegetables from our pantry garden on our December distribution days, we were fortunate Second Harvest Food Bank had several items available for our guests. These included carrots, yams, onions, cabbage, pears, mangoes, pineapples and apples.

Most of these items arrived in bulk boxes or in 50-pound bags, so our pantry volunteers down packed these into smaller bags for grab-and-go distribution to guests. Each distribution had different items available, but all our guests had access to a nice selection of these nutritious foods.

Did you know that during November and December, the pantry received thousands of pounds of nonperishable food items that you, our local community, graciously donated? Every can or box donated makes a real difference to food-insufficient households.

If you follow our Facebook page, you have seen we had no less than 16 schools, businesses, churches, housing communities and civic organizations organize food drives for WCHI; plus, we had additional valuable donations received at the Re/Max Unlimited office, 1080 Schadt Ave., Whitehall.

Our volunteers picked up, unloaded, date checked and sorted all the donations we received. All totaled, we received 4,425 pounds of nonperishable food items and toiletries. Our community is fabulous!

Finally, I want to recognize the tireless efforts of our WCHI volunteers who make everything we do possible. I look forward to continuing to volunteer with all of you in 2025! Email our volunteer coordinator, Sylvia Lee, at volunteerme.lee@gmail.com for more information on joining our amazing team.

Happy New Year!

Editor’s note: This column was written by Gwen Herzog, pantry garden chair.